Devils Practice Before Flying to Detroit | NOTEBOOK

The Devils practiced at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday before heading to Detroit for a one-game road trip.

Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared Nico Hischier will travel with the team but is not expected to play after the Devils Captain participated in his second straight day of practice.

“That’s exactly what he needs, is practice time,” Ruff shared after Hischier's second straight day practicing. “Great to see him out there and we’ll see how he keeps progressing. He will come with us to practice, he won’t be playing.”

Tuesday's Practice

There was full attendance at Devils practice except for New Jersey's two injured players, Timo Meier and Tomas Nosek. Meier is out with a lower-body injury while Nosek is out with an upper-body injury. Erik Haula and Ondrej Palat took maintenance days on Monday; however, both were on the ice for Tuesday's practice.

When practicing special teams, here's the power play groups used:

J. Hughes, L. Hughes, Bratt, Palat, Toffoli

Hamilton, Haula, Bastian, Mercer, Holtz

The Devils workflow from Tuesday is below:

Cap is Back

Nico Hischier participated in his second straight day of practice after missing several weeks with an upper-body injury. With his return, it's been a lift for the team as they're excited to have their Captain back.

“It’s awesome, Nico is obviously such a big part of the team, the organization,” Bratt explained. “As a friend, for me too. Obviously seeing him out there, practicing with us, and being around us is awesome and brings a smile to your face.”

“Especially a guy like that it does a ton,” Nathan Bastian shared about Hischier’s return to practice. “Obviously we lean on him so much on the ice, and miss him, that’s a big hole in our lineup that’s gone. Biggest part about him being back we’re just happy he’s feeling better, and when you’re not a part of the team it feels lonely, so we’re excited to have him on the plane (today).”

Checkpoint

As the Devils are over a month into the season, they're determined to keep improving various aspects of their game like 50/50 battles and compete. They're seeing the results and the emphasis continues to strong practice reps that will translate into games.

"We're doing a better job up ice," Lazar discussed after Tuesday's practice. "That's just not a lack of working hard but working smarter. Understanding that, ok the play's coming here. I don't know how many games we're in now but it's becoming more natural and you're seeing that.

"We want to push each other, and that starts in practice," Lazar also explained. "If you go out there and knock someone on their butt it is what it is but you gotta want that puck so when the game happens it's automatic."

At this point of the season it's an opportunity to check-in, see where the team is currently, and what they need to do moving forward.

"The main thing is you’re growing as a group,” Bastian shared about the focus at this point in the season. “Continue to get better and play better. Sometimes you play well and you don’t really get the result and sometimes you don’t play really well and you win. The main thing is trying to find ways to get points in different ways.”

Ring of Honor

On Tuesday, the Devils announced assistant coach and former Devils player Sergei Brylin would be the second Devils Ring of Honor inductee. More information from the release on Brylin is below:

Twenty years after bringing the third Stanley Cup to New Jersey, and being one of only five players to win three Stanley Cup Championships with the New Jersey Devils, former Devils’ forward and current assistant coach Sergei Brylin will be celebrated by the Devils as the club’s second-ever Ring of Honor inductee. Brylin was informed of his honor on November 13 when Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and Head Coach Lindy Ruff surprised him during the club’s team meeting that morning. The Devils will hold a pregame ceremony at Prudential Center on Saturday, January 20 before they take on the Dallas Stars, whom the Devils and Brylin defeated for the second Stanley Cup in team history, in a 7:00 PM contest. All fans in attendance that night will receive a limited-edition Ring of Honor commemorative pin courtesy of Citizens. This kicks off the first induction in a five-year program sponsored by Citizens, which will be highlighted by a Ring of Honor Committee who will help decide future inductees.

They Said It:

Lindy Ruff on improving the Devils 6-on-5 play late in games: 

“You break down every one individually. If one guy gets on the wrong side of the puck on 6-on-5 you give up an empty net goal. The one thing we want to be is a little bit better at sustaining quality time (in the zone) and getting opportunities and I don’t think we’ve been quite good enough at that.”

Curtis Lazar on the impact of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier back on the ice with the group:

“From a morale standpoint, getting Hughes back, seeing Hischier around is awesome, because these are key parts of our team that everyone’s going to welcome with open arms. You kind of get that swagger back too. It’s fun for all of us to see.”

Busy Week Ahead

Three games in four days, that's the Devils upcoming schedule heading into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The Devils will play in Detroit on Wednesday night before flying back for a two-game homestand on back-to-back days. The Devils host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 3 p.m. ET on Friday and the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 p.m. ET Saturday. Saturday's game is the Devils annual Hockey Fights Cancer game.

There's still time to join the excitment at Prudential Center this weekend, buy your tickets here.